Berlin Wall to be demolished for luxury flats

Around €2.5 million was spent restoring the East Side Gallery, a popular tourist attraction that spans 1.3 kilometres of the Berlin Wall. Part of the iconic structure is now to be torn down to make way for luxury flats.

Berlin's East Side Gallery, covered in artistic murals, attracts 1.3 million tourists each year, flooding the district of Friedrichshain with revenue. The Local reports Franz Schulz, Mayor of Friedrichshain, has confirmed that the East Side segment of the Berlin Wall is to be demolished to accommodate proposals by property developers to build luxury flats.

The flats will be located in what will become the "Living Levels" tower sited between the wall and the river. Sections of the wall will need to go to provide access.

Artists of the East Side Gallery are circulating petitions against the change, saying it will violate their copy-write as artists. They protest that private interests will destroy the historical wall.

The Guardian quoted Kani Alavi of the East Side Gallery saying: "We see this act as a direct act of destruction towards the artwork, to the extent that you might as well tear the whole thing down. All the paintings have become a symbol of freedom in Berlin and Europe.

Unlike elsewhere in the city, where the majority of the wall has been removed, this is a unique opportunity to preserve a large section of what was once a death strip. If you remove the sections, you're destroying the authenticity of this place."